Mortality
by Genesis.BlazingShadow
Summary: While he may be the ultimate lifeform, he is not invincible. Shadow the Hedgehog is ordered by the G.U.N. supreme commander and his subordinates to investigate an assassin picking off G.U.N. personnel. Story gradually becomes Shadow-centric. Be patient.
1. Home of the Hitmen

_'The sun shines on the aluminum _

_I guess this must be the home of the hitmen'  
(The Sisters of Mercy)_

After a day of rest and relaxation, he decided to take a stroll down the beach. It was almost night time, and the sun was dying down fast. It looked liked a bloody halo; a ring of red light encircling the beautiful blue sky. Mr. Black finished the last gulp of alcohol in his flask as he stood on the beach barefoot; his right hand in the pocket of brown khaki pants with a white shirt covering his toned chest.

'It's getting late, and I've got somewhere to be tomorrow,' he thought to himself as he finished his walk along the sandy beach before heading back home.

Mr. Black's 'home' definitely could not be considered modest; it was a private chateau nestled away in the nearby hills. No one knew it even existed; it wasn't on the charts, and it was hard to find if you weren't looking for it in the first place. Even then, it took some difficulty to find the front door. Security is everything to Mr. Black; he is a very paranoid man. He does not sleep at night without a gun under his pillow and a knife on top of the end table next to his bed. Every night, he personally inspects each door and window to make sure each one was locked tight. His estate granted him ample security and peace of mind.

The home looked unassuming enough; just a large place in the hills. No automated turrets or a mine field in the front yard. It was almost a normal place for a wealthy man to live.

Almost.

Truth be told, it was really a fortress. Once inside the home, trained eyes would fail to notice how many knives, guns, explosives, and other assorted, lethal gadgetry lay hidden in the various rooms and corridors. The estate is Mr. Black's sanctuary, and it is a morgue to any intruder foolish or unlucky enough to stumble across.

Mr. Black is no ordinary man; he is a killer. Mr. Black is an assassin of the highest caliber. He is responsible for the deaths of over one hundred and fifty active G.U.N. operatives and countless civilians. He has no single employer; he grants his services to the highest bidder.

Currently, the highest bidder is the leader of an unknown, seemingly unimportant and nonexistent faction who holds a grudge against an old, apparently retired G.U.N. brigadier general named Nicholas Patterson. The contract was a simple one: two hundred grand for the elimination of the officer by any means necessary.

Any means necessary...

Black already had his plots, strategies, and contingency plans ready for the job: the good general decided to take a business trip to London, England. All Black needed to do was find the poor soul and take him out along with anyone unfortunate enough to witness the deed.

'Mm, yes. Easy money,' he thought to himself as he entered the chateau and casually made his way through the various corridors. he made a turn to a door leading to the basement and stumbled down the steps; he was slightly intoxicated from one too many drinks earlier in the day.

"I didn't expect to see you home, John," he blurted as he saw a figure sitting in a dark corner of the room.

"I was wounded."

"Since when did that stop you from skulking around and wasting your targets? Speaking of which, where are the others?"

"They're still abroad finishing the assignment. They don't need me to finish the job."

"Of course. What happened to you, anyways? Usually a Black Arms clean-up party results in scraped skin or a bruised knee at the most."

"Uninvited guests tried to crash the party. What about you, I thought you said you wanted to relax before tomorrow's flight?"

Black raised his arms,"Well, I'm buzzed... that's all the R&R I need. I'm down here to pack for tomorrow."*

"In that case, I will make myself scarce and meditate elsewhere," said the shadowed figure as he kowtowed to Black before slithering upstairs, the light not removing the shroud of darkness covering his body.

In all assassination and mercenary contracts, his call sign and code name is 'Assassin Black'. His true name, however, is Jonathan Black. He is the brother and only living relative of Mr. Black. The assassin possesses the unique telepathic ability to make himself forgotten and slip by unnoticed by living creatures. In addition to being able to toy with other peoples' minds, his body is infused with NanoBLACK, a system of nanites developed by a genius inventor, which grant him the physical ability to slow his heart rate and lower his body heat, so he cannot be detected by sensors, and to repair any damage he may recieve in battle. Code Name: Assassin Black is the perfect infiltrator; the stealthiest, as well as one of the deadliest, assassins in the trade. He is only outdone by a handful of men including his brother.

"Pansy wraith," muttered Black as he entered a few keys on a nearby neon-lit console.

As he pressed one final button, a door disguised as a part of the wall quietly slid open. The hidden room, which was fairly large, revealed various weapons placed on tables and perched on display stands attached to the walls. In the middle of the room was a large table for weapon maintenance and assembly. Black opened two fairly large suitcases and placed them on the table. He began to pack various weapons, necessities, and accessories.

"First off, my babies," he stated as he picked a fairly large pistol from the table in the center of the room.

'.50 Action Express Caliber Mark XIX Desert Eagle. Seven shots per standard magazine. The rounds are powerful enough to leave a gaping hole in any living being unlucky enough to be in its path' he cited in his head as he delicately placed the weapon in a small black case and into the larger case.

Black then proceeded to grab a chrome .45 ACP Colt M1911A1, two twin polished-steel .40 ACP 96F Berettas, and silencers for the three stylish tools as well.

"Bling bling, baby. Now for something a bit more practical," he said with a devilish grin on his face as he selected a black 9x19mm Parabellum M9 Beretta from a stand. Black admired the firearm with glee.

'Small caliber, but you don't need too much firepower when you have the element of surprise.' He decided that five handguns were enough.

The assassin proceeded to take several attachments for the M9 from a drawer beneath the weapon's display case. A silencer and two extended magazines were among his choices. Mr. Black placed each pistol in a lead-lined black box to hide them from airport X-ray machines. The contractor arranged for a private jet to fly him to london, so his luggage would be carried directly to his plane.

"Mm... yes... now for the bigger weapons," he mumbled to himself,"SG 550 Sniper Rifle, AR-15 semi-automatic rifle with detachable stock, 9x19mm MP5K-PDW, and attachable silencers for all of them as well, hnhnhn... oh, and we wouldn't want forget to forget extra ammunition for all my little friends, now, would we?" he asked himself as he delicately placed weapons in larger black cases with spare ammunition.

Mr. Black had filled the two suit cases with clothing, harnesses and holsters for his 'tools', body soap, several energy bars, water, two days worth of M.R.E.'s, tooth brush and paste, and, of course, the disassembled weapons, ammunition, and assorted blades and knives stored in similar black, lead-lined boxes before bringing the luggage upstairs. He placed the luggage in the main hall, so it would be ready to go in the morning when he was, and stumbled up the stairs to his bedroom. It was late; he had been down in the fairly large basement for an hour and a half.

Once he entered the room, he glanced at his decorative grandfather clock by the door; the clock read 1:14 AM. The room's walls were a dull, ivory tint with contrasting ebony oak furniture; an ornate bed, a beautifully carved dresser, intricately designed desk, and the rather tall and imposing clock. The desk was placed against the opposite side of the clock and entrance; a large window with a panoramic view of the outside landscape above it. To the wall on the right side of the room was the large, king-sized mattress. To the left side of the room placed in the wall, a 48" LCD television screen. Under the screen was his dresser which consisted of four columns of three drawers each. To the right of the dresser was the entrance to a medium-sized bathroom with a simple standing shower big enough for two, toilet, and large sink. This was not the master bedroom. No one used the master bedroom. Hell, there were four master bedrooms, but none of the four people who occupied the vast estate felt comfortable in the oversized bedrooms. Black's room was neither small nor large; it was the right, comfortable size for a man used to living in various, cramped spots across the globe for days at a time before relocating to a new, 'safe' position.

"I could live a life of luxury and vice if I wanted. I don't need the money, heh, not anymore, but there's nothing quite as exhilarating as the thrill of a good kill. I'm a murderer. Killing is my passion, and I love getting payed to pursue my passion," he said aloud to no one in particular. He began laughing to himself as he took off his shirt and slipped into his large, comfortable bed. Black checked the weapon underneath his pillow before switching off the lights with a simple snap of his finger.

Tomorrow is going to be a bloodbath.


	2. The Three Shadows Part 1

_'Maria... this is what you wanted, right? This is the promise I made to you.'_

Shadow the Hedgehog is the guardian and protector of Earth. The ultimate life form is the guardian of a planet ungrateful for his continuing struggle and sacrifice and the protector of a government and people looking to drop him at the first sign of trouble; to use the dark one as a scapegoat to place blame on should the world fall apart.

Why does he even bother?

In another reality, it happened. In another reality, the world was destroyed by the Flames of Disaster, Iblis, and Shadow the Hedgehog was made an object of hatred. Humanity blamed the poor creature for the catastrophe. The surviving population hunted down the hedgehog and once again placed him in cryogenic stasis.

Is it worse than death to remain frozen in place, to float about for all eternity? Perhaps it is, perhaps it is not. To exist but feel nothing, to have a past but never to remember it; never to think or feel again. Those who do not believe in God or an afterlife, atheists, would say it is the same as death. To one who does believe in an afterlife, it may not matter, but to one who may be condemned to hell, it would be a sweet reprieve.

Although, technically, the events never came to pass, he still understands the 'strenuous' relationship he has with G.U.N. Why does he work with them? Why does Shadow the Hedgehog, the ultimate life form created by Professor Gerald Robotnik, bother working with the corrupt human government?

A promise.

"It's only been a couple of months. I thought I could leave my past behind me; to not be tormented by ghosts of my unfortunate past," the ebony hedgehog sighed as he looked through the panorama into the vehement depths of space,"I was wrong."

The ARK is a lonely place. Shadow the Hedgehog was created aboard this accursed place. This place... is death... with walls. Space Colony ARK was the first Bernal, or Bernoulli, space colony. It depends on how you look at it.

John Desmond Bernal first brought the idea of spherical space colonies to the world in 1929, but it was a brilliant engineer named Ignacio Bernoulli who brought a more 'fleshed out' design and implementation of the space colony to the United Federation and G.U.N. World Council some time in late 1947 during World War II. Bernoulli argued that the possibilities of an isolated laboratory inhabited by the brightest minds on the planet were limitless. Nations under G.U.N. were eventually persuaded to see his way of thinking around late 1949 when the Allies, now unified under the United Federation and the Guardian Units of Nations, knew they were going to win the war. They thought that it could usher in a new era of health prosperity for planet Earth and possibly bring the planet towards global unity and peace.

Thus began the story of Space Colony ARK.

The participating nations' intentions for the space station were noble at first, they truly were, but, as history shows us, the worst things imaginable are done with good intentions.

A lot of good came from the space station's research. The science teams discovered cures and treatments for most of the world's diseases, and they were even researching cures for fatal types of cancer and the new disease N.I.D.S. The researchers' medical progression came almost exclusively from the station's quest for eternal life, also known as Project: Shadow.

Eventually, however, G.U.N. wanted to exploit the station's resources and personnel to create new weapons of war; super lasers, genetic monsters, powerful fighting machines, and efficient fuel sources for this technology. These were just a few of the technologies created and expanded upon aboard the ARK due to G.U.N.'s demands. The 'Guardians' argued that it was all in the name of peace; in the name of global security.

The quest for eternal life was a decent cause twisted and corrupted by indecent people who sought to control the world in the name of security. Their agenda and meddling in the affairs of the international station have nearly resulted in the destruction of planet Earth at least twice since its decommission.

Truth be told, even the master engineer, Bernoulli, had his own hidden agenda for the space station.

"Fifty years, Maria, I remember after all this time," said the dejected black hedgehog as he closed his eyes,"I remember how I was raised. I remember you were my only friend. I remember..." his dejection turned to tender acrimony,"I remember what those cruel humans thought of me. They said I was an animal; another experiment just like everything else aboard the ARK. They said that eventually I would either be put down or caged up like all the rest," acrimony changed to empathetic understanding,"They were afraid of me. Now I know why. After only a few days of being reawakened from a stasis tube somewhere in the middle of the ocean, I had almost destroyed the planet you loved so dearly. I almost destroyed Earth by hurling this colony into the planet. I used a super weapon that had no business being aboard the ARK in the first place to entice a true villain to help me claim vengeance," his understanding swerved to blurring confusion as he closed his eyes and continued," Professor Gerald always told us that this place was designed for good deeds. It was designed for the benefit of mankind, not its annihilation," Shadow opened his eyes and once more stared at the stars through the observation room's window,"Then again, he also lost his sanity and brainwashed me to carry out his revenge."

His understanding turned to nostalgia,"When the colony was on its collision course with Earth, I was standing right here," stated Shadow with only the slightest hint of regret in his voice,"Right here in this room. I was looking through this very window," the dark one recapitulated,"All I could think about was how we used to spend hours gazing at the heavens. Just you and me and our idle conversation," a small tear began to make its way down his cheek.

"What I'd give just to have one more hour with you, Maria," he said to himself in a hushed tone. The dark creature turned around and faced the terminal near the center of the room. The handle appeared so familiar to him. It was the handle that had sent him rocketing to Earth.

_'Shadow... I beg of you... give them a chance to be happy...'_

_'Maria!'_

_'Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog.'_

"Perhaps I should have never been created," Nostalgia twisted into sullen remembrance of the recent past,"If only you knew what my true purpose was. Robotnik was forced to make me for that creature Black Doom. I was supposed to bring him the seven Chaos Emeralds. In return, he promised me vengeance on the human race. Another betrayal of my promise to you, my dear Maria," the hedgehog let out a small chuckle as he continued,"He even went so far as to say he was my father." Ebony eyelids shut as he let out a sigh,"but don't worry. I stopped him," a smile flickered on his face before turning into a frown. His ears folded down.

His remembrance changed to complete confusion,"I don't understand. I mean, I do understand, but I don't," he explained, making a gesture with his right hand moving from his left side back to his right,"Why do good people suffer and die while evil men thrive and prosper? The greedy are in control while the humble, ethical and altruistic suffer under their tyranny. It's not right," he sighed. He began to question what he should do about it.

The confusion dissipated as he began to open his mind.

What could he do?

"What do I do about it?" He turned around again, crossing his arms. The ebony hedgehog wondered,"What if I gave humanity a helping hand? What if I stood against corruption? What if I were the one to cleanse the planet of its scum?" Shadow paused for a brief moment before continuing,"The safety of these people is more important to me than anything, Maria, yes, but perhaps I could do more..."

Shadow's mind wandered into a strange place. The dark one wondered what the world would be like if he were to rid it of its corrupt leaders. He began to dream of a world without pain or suffering. He thought of the paradise that could be should the world be rid of all its crooked officials and double-dealing slime. The crimson striped hedgehog could create a world both prosperous and united; a world without loss, without immorality, and, most importantly, without tragedy.

"Maybe," the dark one paused for a moment,"maybe I could lead them?"

He quickly dismissed the thought after considering the possible outcomes.

"Hmph. That's not what you asked of me, is it? You said to give them a chance, not to lead them. What chance does humanity have to learn and grow if I take away their struggle?" A scowl formed on his face. He decided to put up that trademark callous facade to hide the conflicting emotions boiling inside of him.

"I don't really care what they do with their lives. I'll give them the 'chance' you were never given, Maria. I will protect them from total annihilation because you asked me to."

For the next two hours, Shadow remained silent as he gazed at the stars; his mind lost in deep contemplation.

When he checked the time, it was nearly two forty-five in the morning. He would have to report to G.U.N. in just a little over three hours. Luckily, being the ultimate life form meant one didn't require much sustenance or rest.

On the surface, Shadow kept his emotions well hidden. Most people found him to be a cold individual who cared about nothing. This, of course, is not true, but it has not been easy for him to share his feelings with anyone since the incident. Instead of opening up and connecting with other beings as a normal person may try to do, he hides behind a mask of apathy and indifference. Ultimate life form or not, it is taking its toll on him.

One cannot detach himself from himself forever. It is aboard the ARK where the black champion sheds the mask of impassivity and the cloak of torpor to let his raw emotions stir.

Another tear ran down his cheek as he began,"Why did they cut your life short, Maria? Of all the people who deserved to die, why did they hurt you?"

_'It is injustice'_

"What gave them the right?" he shouted to himself,"What did I do to deserve this?" complained the enraged hedgehog,"Damn you, Maria! If I could, I would forsake you, I would forget you and leave you here!" Shadow snapped. The ebony hedgehog turned and poured out his anger onto the nearby terminal. He smashed the buttons with his fists and yanked out the lever with his left hand before calming down.

"But I cannot... I can't forget you."

Shadow began to cackle,"Wow, haheheh... I'm damaged goods... Heh," he chuckled,"Now, for all eternity, I have to suffer like this."

The dark one sat with his legs crossed, back against the damaged terminal, still chuckling maniacally,"Thank you, Professor," he said sarcastically as he noticed something shining in the corner of the room. There was a thin, sharp piece of metal on the floor; probably from the fit he threw just a few moments ago. The dark hedgehog picked it up and pondered what to do with it.

He had heard that some emotionally disturbed humans took to cutting various parts of their bodies to relieve stress. They seemed to believe that they were inflatable balloons filled with stress, and if they cut themselves open, the stress would simply flow out of their wounds and go away.

He tossed the metal fragment to the other side of the room.

"Yeah, right."

_'I wish I could make the pain go away.'_

Shadow jumped to his feet, ears darting back and forth.

"Who's there?" he asked into the room as he turned around. Was he hearing things? The thought felt rather alien, as if another voice was inside his head. It must have been inside his head because the door was shut and he was the only one in the room.

"Great. I'm losing my mind!" proclaimed the once calm, now shaken, hedgehog as he tilted his head up and placed his hands over his face.

"My mind is fabricating illusions because I'm so alone; I'm hearing things that aren't there!" he took his hands away from his face and crossed them over his chest; leaving the ivory crest exposed,"I thought talking to a dead girl was bad enough, but... well, Shadow, this is a new low for you."

_'You are not alone.'_

Shadow jumped again. He wasn't imagining things; he knew that voice wasn't him being a mental case. The dark could hear it, but his sharp ears could not decipher the voice's origin. Shadow scanned the room. After being sure that no one else was inside, he proceeded to the door. The door opened as he approached it. As he walked out of the room, he began to hear notes. Musical notes... guitar notes. They were gentle, almost inaudible, and the notes were of a peculiar, sporadic rhythm.

The notes became louder and more defined as he walked down a long corridor. They had run down this corridor before. They ran to escape from their G.U.N. pursuers. They made it to the room where the hedgehog had just came out of, but only Shadow had managed to escape thanks to Maria's sacrifice.

_'What was done with the bodies?'_

The ebony creature could not tell whether it was his thought or this mysterious person's magic at work, but, at the moment, he didn't really care. Someone had been spying on him, someone was eavesdropping on his conversation... with a dead girl. Why?

Shadow searched for what seemed like an eternity. The notes' audibility peaked just outside of a small storage closet somewhere in the east section of the colony. The ebony anti-hero stepped into the room aware and alert, ready for an ambush, but was surprised to see that the room was relatively empty; save for three sealed crates.

There was a protruding object from the side of one of the crates to Shadow's left. As he grabbed the slender thing from its hiding place, the music stopped. Shadow stepped out of the closet. It was an acoustic guitar; black with platinum strings and a blood red strap.

"Strange. What is this doing here?" he asked himself as he played a note. It wasn't very old, and it was well tuned.

The crimson on ebony creature made his way back to his alcove. He stood in front of the window once again, guitar in hand. Shadow the Hedgehog never bothered to listen to any sort of music or play an instrument. He never had the time or the opportunity. However, he was a quick study.

The ebony creature began to strum.

Strum, single note, strum, single note, strum, single note...

Strum, strum, strum switch the fingers, strum, switch the fingers, strum strum strum... he found a beat.

"All... we ever wanted... was..." Shadow stopped strumming,"was..."

'Everything'

Shadow continued his strumming,"All... we ever got..."

'Was coal.'

The dark one stopped once more and asked,"Who are you?"

It was a fruitless attempt to ascertain an answer from the ghastly voice seemingly without origin. Maybe he really was crazy. No, if that were true, then how could he explain the strange guitar he found?

The notes from the unseen guitar began again. This time, instead of searching for the instrument, the dark one simply joined in after catching the pattern.

For several minutes the shadowed creature and the unseen figure created a rhythm as eerie as it was gentle. The only sound besides from their unholy instruments was the background noise from the ARK's machinery.

Gradually, as their depraved melody continued into the early night, another sound joined the dark ensemble. It sounded like someone's voice; a low trill flowing along with their musical notes.

Almost as if on queue, the song stopped as eerily as it had begun. Both parties stopped simultaneously. Shadow sank to his knees. He could feel the back of a gloved hand tracing down his tanned cheeks, but could see nothing in front of him.

'I am watching you, Shadow.'

After that last, haunting voice registered in his mind, the temporarily paralyzed hedgehog felt that the strange being had finally left him alone. He didn't know how he knew, he just knew it. His mind remained blank, almost in a meditative state, for nearly ten minutes before the room's terminal came to life.

"Agent Shadow, do you read me?" came a voice from the machine.

The dark one sprang to his feet to answer the 'phone call'. He pressed a button,"Yes, Captain Vega, I'm here."

"I thought I'd find you here. Look, you need to come to HQ right away. There's an assignment waiting for you, and it can't wait."

"I'm not due for arrival for another thirty-three minutes."

"It's directly from 'Commander, so get here immediately!"

Shadow sighed,"Chaos control!"

With that, the hedgehog was gone. Nothing but the machines and rogue experiments inhabited the station now.

(All We Ever Wanted - Bauhaus)


	3. The Hunt

_'His eyes were heavy_

_He carried a card_

_One couple question_

_The other discharged'_

_(Bauhaus)_

The ebony hedgehog teleported to a remote G.U.N. air base in the middle of the atlantic ocean. The facility, codename 'White Hydra', harbors a rather extensive communications and intelligence center. Almost nothing went around the world unchecked by G.U.N., and nothing checked by G.U.N. went unchecked by one of several 'Hydra' class communications facilities. Its main purpose is to direct all United Federation and G.U.N. operations within the Eastern Seaboard of the United States and Western Europe.

The base itself was rather insipid. Standard greyish walls, steel floors, and the monotonous appearance of the human staff occupying the bland facility. In the briefing room stood a single figure. It was a fairly short human next to a table as dull and gray as the rest of the base. He wore a standard solid black and green tunic with a matching beret like the rest of the Hydra's cadre.

"What's the situation, Captain?"

"Well, Shadow, the Commander called in less than ten minutes ago," started the composed Captain Vega.

The captain served as the intelligence liaison for most G.U.N. operations involving Agent Shadow. The only reason for a call like this would be an extreme emergency concerning the safety of highly sensitive operations or key personnel.

"This... assignment must be important to him because he told me to get every available agent on the case immediately," he continued as he placed a folder from behind his back onto the table and opened.

Obsidian eyelids closed on crimson irises as Shadow grew more impatient by the moment,"Are you going to keep wasting my time?"

"It just seems strange that he was so adamant about it,"replied Vega,"One of our section commanders in Europe has recently acquired a price on his head."

"Oh, really?" Shadow retorted seeming rather unconcerned with the matter,"Who and how much?"

Shadow the Hedgehog was nothing if not direct. Perhaps, at times, he was mysterious and reserved, but when it came down to business, he cut straight to the chase.

"Brigadier General Patterson of the six-eighteenth division."

"Never heard of him," was Shadow's response as he stared into Vega's eyes. The hedgehog didn't care for the captain, but he didn't hate him. He just wanted to get on with it.

"The Commander requests that you monitor Patterson. He's on personal leave in London, England, and as far as we know, he isn't aware that there's a price on his head for over two-hundred grand," explained Vega as he sorted through a few of the papers in his hands.

"Well it would be a good idea to alert the good General that someone wants him dead, wouldn't it?" The dark one's altruism was given with a heavy dose of soft sarcasm. The hedgehog felt that this assignment was going to be a babysitting job.

Vega sighed,"Amusing, Agent, but orders are to simply monitor him. If Patterson is warned of the situation, we have less of a chance to catch the assassins."

_'Okay, so it's a novel babysitting job,_' he thought with excess emphasis on the word 'novel'.

"What? I thought we wanted to protect the General, not catch a couple of murderers." Shadow was somewhat surprised at this revelation.

The captain shuffled through his papers again."Well, yes, that's what I told the Commander, but he seemed very adamant about finding out who has been killing G.U.N. personnel with such," he said as he handed Shadow a thin document with a photograph clipped to it,"efficiency."

The photograph showed an image of a man dressed in full black firing a weapon at a target beyond the camera. Unfortunately, the picture was too blurry to make out the person's face.

The anti-hero scanned the document before addressing Vega again.

"Interesting. Six G.U.N. officers dead in the last week and a half, and this is your best photograph?" asked the disappointed, but not surprised, hedgehog. On a good day, G.U.N.'s intelligence agencies could tell that the sky was blue.

"This person has been seen at or near each murder location. We have not been able to identify the man as of yet, though. Not exactly sloppy work on his part considering he either infiltrated or broke into some pretty well guarded military posts. Each of these officers was under heavy guard, but this one person, and reportedly a few others at times, proved to be too much for 'em."

Vega sighed again,"It's the same story each time," he went as he wiped his forehead with a piece of cloth,"No evidence, no survivors, just a blurry camera shot of a man in a black coat."

"You want me to monitor General Patterson without him being aware of my presence or the possible danger he is in so you can identify some hit-man that may not even show up?" this job made no sense to the dark one. Perhaps he could chalk it up to his sleep deprived state. He hadn't had a good night's rest in a week or so. Then again, he is the ultimate life form. Maybe this job was just plain silly.

"Let's put it this way,"sighed Vega,"He has beaten every other assassin out there to several high ranking officers surrounded by armed troops. If he isn't the first person to make an attempt on Patterson, then not only is he not coming, but anyone who does make an attempt on Pat's life wont do too well," he said as he handed Shadow a manilla folder.

"Why don't you send Rouge for this mission? It's basically a surveillance job."

"Normally, we would, but she is unavailable at this time."

"Where is she?"

"That's classified."

_'Of course. Damned humans and their secrecy.'_

The hedgehog casually flipped through the papers in the folder. Basic briefing, the names of officers in the region, details of authorized support and hardware, and so on.

"When do I leave?"

"Well, the plane for London leaves in an hour, but seeing as how you can just teleport wherever you want, you can leave as soon as you're ready."

* * *

It was midday. Despite the passerby's here and there, no one seemed to notice him walking around near the staircase in his black trench coat. That was a good thing since right underneath his coat he was hiding the AR-15. The rifle fit snugly against his left side. Stock against his pectoral with the attached suppressor barely sticking out from the bottom of the leather coat. He walked back and forth between rows of cars and the staircase.

After about an hour's wait, a man, black hair with blue eyes, came down the staircase with a wheeled case in tow. The luggage bag was big enough to fit a thin man into... or a petite young girl...

Black followed in the distance waiting for him to stop. The idiot was completely unaware of the killer on his trail.

Finally, he stopped in front of a green mini and placed his rolling luggage upright in front of the trunk. The man stepped in front of the hood of the car and knelt down. He was fiddling with something underneath the vehicle.

Black peeked from behind a concrete pillar in the parking structure.

_'I see you.'_

The black haired man got off his knees and dusted his pants off before opening the trunk. With some effort, he managed to fit the apparently heavy case into the back. He opened the right side door; the driver's seat.

It was time for Black to make his move. He drew his silenced rifle from his coat and brought it to his shoulder.

Needle point on the bastard.

Click.

A silent FWWP followed by the man falling to the floor. He screamed in agony as he laid on his back clutching his right knee.

"Alton Wright. Child pornographer and known human trafficker," stated the assassin,"You're always busy buying and selling children as sex slaves."

Alton laid his head back to catch a glimpse of his assailant.

"What do you want from me?" he asked Black who was just a few feet away from him and approaching steadily.

"Where are you meeting him today?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, ma-" Alton was cut off by a sharp kick to the side of his head.

"I'm not going to ask again. Where are you meeting the General today?" said Black impatiently.

Alton started moaning in pain. Another kick, softer than the last one, persuaded him to spit out the answer.

"Oh, the gun-guy-"

Black stomped on his hand to drive his point.

"Augh, god, alright! T-tonight. The Cast Iron Pub a couple blocks from here!"

"And the merchandise?"

"L-luggage... in the trunk," stumbled Alton as he began panting,"P-please, s-stop," pleaded the man as he put his other bloody hand on Black's foot. His cries fell on deaf ears. With one hand, Black rested the tip of the rifle on Alton Wright's forehead.

FWWP

Mr. Black had a look underneath the front of the car to see just what the now deceased Alton was doing earlier.

_'As I thought.'_

From just a quick glance underneath the car, he could see a bomb strapped to the bottom. You could say it was a type of security system; the bomb could be activated from remote or set to blow once the engine started.

Black hypothesized that if Alton ever got caught by the authorities, he had a way of destroying any incriminating evidence, along with any authorities unfortunate enough to be by the car, that may be near or aboard the vehicle.

He felt around the bottom and unhooked the sensitive device. After retrieving the bomb, he opened the trunk of the mini. In the back was the same luggage Alton carried down the stairs.

Slowly, Mr. Black unzipped the pain compartment of the case. Inside of the luggage was a young girl; she was no older than eight or nine.

"My, my... Mr. Wright, you are the worst kind of criminal," chuckled Black to the corpse with a devilish grin.

_'I've got an idea.'_

The girl's hands and ankles were bound and her mouth closed with duck tape. She struggled to get out of the case but no luck. Mr. Black simply unzipped another compartment in the case and slid the bomb inside. On the outside, the luggage was a dull brown, but the interior of the case was solid black.

The device was rectangular in shape and only as thick as a laptop. The thin black box had a single red light in the center. Black slid the device into the compartment before shutting the case again and zipping it up.

The little girl tried to scream through her gag. Black either could not hear her nor did he care about her pleas.

As luck would have it, a passerby in another mini slowly drove by. The assassin drew his rifle once again and shot. The driver of the other mini was now dead.

Black quickly disposed of the bodies by placing them both in the back of the second small car and parking it in a nearby empty parking space. He then proceeded to drive out in the now deceased Alton's vehicle to his apartment.

He only needed to stop for a few minutes. Just long enough to grab an extra set of clothing.

_'Dress casual._'

Mr. Black unloaded his AR-15 rifle and placed it back in its black case inside the closet. He grabbed his clothing off the wrack and matching brown boots. He wore a green hood-less jacket with beige pants and the same tipless combat gloves he wore with his trench coat. He decided against bringing weapons save for a small razor blade concealed in the palm of his right glove. Underneath the jacket, as a little precaution, he wore a thin vest of Kevlar material over a black T-shirt. It all matched very well with his opaque glasses, dark brown hair and tanned skin.

He made his way back downstairs with four pistols and extra magazines wrapped in his black trench coat.

A short drive later, he parked in front of the dinky pub where he would meet the G.U.N. officer. The sun was still out. Black took the extra clothing and weaponry into an alleyway across from the pub and placed it gently on the side of a garbage can. All he had to do now was wait for the General to show up.

* * *

"This is a waste of time," Shadow said to himself. The black hedgehog had been following General Patterson all day long. So far, he had watched the human sleep in 'till nine, eat breakfast, go for a jog around the city, work out, eat lunch, watch television, eat a small dinner, and talk to some other humans. It was getting late, the sun was dying out, and nothing interesting had happened all day long.

Shadow was now following the General to a location unknown to him. While the General drove, Shadow ran and jumped from roof to roof. The General must have decided to take a drive through town for a good reason because he was heading through the shabbier parts of London. Eventually, they reached their destination; The Cast Iron Pub.

_'Now what would the good officer want from a run down place like this?'_

The thought was his own. He hadn't had any invading thoughts since last night aboard the ARK. He watched the scene below unfold from the roof of the pub. Patterson parked his vehicle, and another vehicle parked next to him. Four men stepped out of the second vehicle and stood behind the General. They walked up to a man in a green jacket leaning against a mini. He looked Arabic to Shadow.

The General and the green jacketed Arab started conversing. Being the ultimate life form certainly has its perks. From on top of the roof, out of sight from either the General or his lackeys, he could easily eavesdrop on their conversation.

"The money was transferred to the account as promised. I assume you were notified?"

The Arab looked at the General

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I got the package in the trunk. How are we gonna do this?"

"My men would like to make sure the merchandise is... genuine... if you don't mind," said Patterson.

"Not at all," the arab immediately opened the back of the car. Shadow could see a large brown case in the back.

One of Patterson's associates, dressed in a brown sweater and denim jeans, opened the case and felt for the contents inside. The dark one though he could see a human knee sticking out from the wheeled luggage.

'What are you up to?'

The associate closed the case again and took it out of the trunk.

"We'll take it from here. Pleasure doing business with you, sir," said the man in the sweater to the Arab.

"Hey, General, how about a drink before you go? No sense in coming to a pub if you aren't going to grab a pint, is there?"

Patterson looked at the Arab and nodded his head in agreement. The man had a point.

Shadow relocated to the top of the building across from the pub. He watched the green jacketed 'businessman' carefully. Something about him just didn't sit right with the hedgehog.

Not even an hour later, the sun finally died out, and the streets of London were well lit by the streetlights. Shadow had been watching and listening as well as he could. For someone who could survive weeks without sleep, Shadow found himself incredibly bored and weary; ready to drop dead asleep on the cold rooftop.

Their time in the pub lasted for several more hours. It was once again the middle of the night. There was nobody in the pub except the Arab, the General and his four men. The humans hadn't been talking about anything very important all night. Mostly, they blathered on about sports, current events, and dabbled about what they like and don't like about the government.

Shadow thought their mindless dribble would never end, but eventually it did. It was around two in the morning, and the bartender finally had to ask the men to leave so he could go home.

"Just one more drink, man?" asked the Arab slightly intoxicated as he handed him a stack of bank notes and fumbled around in his left pocket.

"Meh, alright, mate, but can you make it quick? The wife's expecting me." the bartender hesitantly agreed as he handed the Arab and one of the men three glasses of ale. They took the glasses to their table in the middle of the pub.

The Arab handed one of the glasses to the General. Shadow noticed the slightest of hand movements from the Arab. From the distance, he saw the green jacketed Arab slide two fingers over the General's glass as he handed it to him, and he noticed that Patterson's pint had just a bit more fizz than the other five glasses.

_'Hmph. Smooth, but not smooth enough,'_ thought Shadow.

The men quickly finished their drinks and departed from the pub. The Arab, the possible assassin, began to walk fast towards an alleyway. Just a moment later, Patterson began coughing and collapsed to his knees.

_'Alright, killer, I've got you.'_

Shadow jumped from the roof into the middle of the parking lot. He was ready to give chase to the now confirmed assassin. The dark one gave one last glance at the General. Black liquid was flowing from his nose and mouth; the man seemed as good as dead. His associates were trying to load the General into his car. They were all bunched together within two meters of the vehicle with the luggage in the back.

Bang.

Shadow failed to notice the item Black slid out of his pocket as he was making his way towards the alley; a detonator. The blast caught the obsidian anti-hero off guard, and, because of his close proximity to the vehicle, he was knocked to the ground.

Shadow recovered from the shock after a minute and dashed to the alleyway only to catch a glimpse of a figure wearing a black trench coat sprinting out of the alley. The hedgehog looked to a trash can on his left and saw the green jacket worn by the Arab on the ground.

He pulled a radio, seemingly out of nowhere, and contacted his superiors.

"This is Agent Shadow, General Patterson has been assassinated. I have a profile on the hit-man. Arabic, brown hair, thick, opaque glasses, is wearing a black coat and fleeing on foot. I will begin pursuit of the assailant."

* * *

Mr. Black took the nearest left turn into another alleyway. He felt a vibration in his right pocket. Black took out a cell phone and read a text message:

_Setup. You are being followed. ISS&BM En route to capture contractor. Rendezvous bar._

Mr. Black put his phone away and drew his silenced M9 Beretta from its holster on his left hip as he made his way through the alleyways of London.

_'First thing's first; go home and get my gear.'_

A smile sneaked its way onto the killer's face.

_'Let the games begin.'_


	4. The Hunted

_'Sinister echoes clutching at straws_

_Letter boxes screaming_

_You try to pin him to the wall_

_And you end up on the ceiling...'_

_(Bauhaus)_

"Affirmative, Shadow. Keep on his tail," replied a crackling voice from the radio,"We have a team moving in to intercept."

Shadow darted from corner to corner following the killer's every step. Although he was faster than any human could ever be on foot, he couldn't seem to pin Mr. Black to one corner. The alleyways were like a maze; narrow and legion. It didn't help any that every door in the damned city seemed to 'magically' open for Black.

After several minutes of fruitlessly chasing after him in the slums, the ebony hedgehog decided to take a different approach. Shadow leaped onto the nearest ledge and repeatedly jumped from one ledge to the next ledge above him until he was on the rooftop. From the top of the building, he could see the assassin moving through the corridors. The dark one also spotted several other figures in the maze.

The hedgehog smirked.

_'He's heading right into a trap.'_

Shadow crouched on the rooftop and watched Black move through a narrow gap between the two shabby buildings. He looked like a ghost haunting the streets with his black jacket swaying in the air as he moved. Just beyond the gap was a cavity of space with a couple large trash bins. The G.U.N. team, what looked like five agents from the distance, hid themselves behind the bins.

The hedgehog jumped off the rooftop and began to make his way, casually and slow, to the enclosed space.

_'They got him.'_

* * *

Mr. Black dashed through the narrow corridor and made a left turn.

"Freeze!"

Black dove behind the nearest bin with his M9 in hand. He only got a brief glimpse of the agents before heading for cover. Three of them were in the open.

"Where'd he go?"

The assassin appeared in a ghostly fashion from his cover and fired the silenced weapon.

_FWWP_

_FWWP_

_FWWP_

Black back stepped and crouched behind the bin once more for cover as he heard the sounds of three bodies dropping dead on the ground. He knew he was being followed, he knew there were more of the agents around the corner, and, most importantly, he knew he only had a few precious seconds to act before his main pursuer caught up with him.

"BLACK, YOU WILL _DIE_!"screeched a feminine voice from the other side of the bin.

_'m__mm... G.U.N. agents aren't the brightest bulbs in the box, but they're usually not stupid enough to give away their position... unless...'_

Mr. Black peeked his head from his cover to see who was left standing. His sight was met by gunfire.

_BANG_

_BANG_

_'Yep, that lady's no agent, but she's working with 'em, alright.'_

The killer stood up and leaned against the bin for a moment. He unbuttoned the thin safety strap of the holster on his right hip. It was the silver-matte Desert Eagle. Black turned and sidestepped from behind the bin.

_FWWP_

_BANG_

A blood-curdling scream could be heard from the mysterious woman as she fell to the floor with a distinct thud. Apart from the two red blotches on her dress's midsection, she was shrouded in velvet black clothing; Victorian-era garments matched with excessive makeup. No weapon visible on her person save for a dagger next to the body. Black imagined that she already looked like the walking dead before he shot.

_'I'll deal with you in a moment. Where's the shooter?'_

The last agent peered from behind a corner and opened fire. Black simply swayed to his left towards the mysterious lady's body and dodged the inaccurate hail of gunfire. The sounds of the man reloading his weapon, a semi automatic pistol, could be heard from where the assassin was standing.

_Cling_

_Clack_

_Slack_

_  
Ching_

_Click_

Once again, the agent appeared from the corner, but before he could fire the chamber round, his body thundered down to the ground as a heavy .50 slug penetrated his arm.

The G.U.N. agent wasn't dead; just in a hell of a lot of pain and without a functioning right arm. He was completely at Mr. Black's mercy. Black holstered the slugger and aimed the other, more subtle weapon at the downed agent's left leg.

_FWWP_

_FWWP_

A shriek of pain followed by the incoherent pleading of the wounded man could be heard through the city streets, but the only being who would care for his pleas would not make it in time.

"Relax, or you'll bleed to dea-"

Black was cut off by the sound of a woman shrieking. The sound that followed shortly after could be comparable to someone biting into an apple.

"Back off!" he yelled in pain. The seemingly dead woman sank her teeth into the assassin's left arm and knocked the weapon out of his hand.

Black struggled to get the woman off her. He jabbed her in the temple with his free hand. After a few good knocks to the noggin, the crazy biter unclenched. She fell on her back, by her knife, and began to cackle in amusement. She cracked a toothy grin at her victim as she sat up. Blood smothered her cheeks and sharp teeth.

Mr. Black grinned back.

"You'll regret that."

Black rolled up his coat sleeve to reveal a black blotch where the woman's teeth had bitten into. The blood on the face of this would-be vampire began to change tint; the claret color was quickly engulfed by a sinister obsidian black.

The black ooze began to dissolve into her face like salt on an ice cube. The cannibal lady bellowed in genuine pain. After just a few seconds, the black slime ate away at her lips and teeth and left part of her mandible exposed and brittle.

"Didn't you get the memo?" he asked the now deformed woman,"Bella Lugosi's dead!"

In a fit of rage, the screaming woman grabbed for her dagger and charged at Black. Her effort was met by a swift left hook to the side of the jaw. A couple of very sharp fangs, followed by the lady, dropped to the floor.

As she was recovering, preparing to charge again, Black drew a shining steel 96 Beretta and produced a silencer from the sleeve of his coat.

The woman raised the dagger over her head as she stood up in an attempt to make one last charge. Before the vampire could make it to her feet, she was battered by a barrage of Black's ghostly gunfire.

Her body fell to the ground for the last time with a satisfying thud.

Black stepped over to her side, knelt down, picked up the dagger, and stabbed the blade through her heart.

"So, you've eaten recently," he said to the now dead undead.

The scene was a bloody backdrop of ruby red vital fluid flowing forth from her wounds and drenching blotches of obsidian cloth.

Ruby red.

Mr. Black couldn't help but notice a peculiar lump near the vampire's chest. Carefully, he moved his fingers through her clothing. He felt for the item and took it between his index and middle fingers. Finally, he withdrew the peculiar object from her shirt. It was a gem. In fact, it was an extravagant ovular ruby. About an inch in diameter, the gem was easily worth a small fortune. The assassin smirked.

_'...Only ever cared for one particular pair of rubies.'_

He stood up. All but one of his pursuers were down, and the final agent would be here within seconds. Mr. Black had to buy himself enough time to get his gear, and his destination was a good twenty minutes from his apartment on foot. There was the wounded agent on the floor, but there was no guarantee that this pursuer would stop for his comrade. After all, they did hire a mercenary, of the macabre sort, to trap him.

Then it occurred to Black that he didn't know exactly who his pursuer was.

Someone appeared around the corner where Black had come from. He saw the short, black figure; Shadow the Hedgehog. Black took out a small business card and placed it on the corpse's stomach.

_'Oh, this is too perfect.'_

* * *

'He m_ust've put up a fi-'_

The hedgehog was a bit surprised to see four bodies lying out on the floor and the assassin standing over one of them. He seemed to have underestimated this hit-man's capabilities. As Black got on his feet, Shadow began to stride his way to confront him.

"You want me?" asked the assassin as he stepped backwards from the body,"Meet me at this location. Don't bring any agents with you," he told Shadow as he pointed to something on the now deceased vampire's body,"Oh, by the ways, you've got wounded."

Shadow glimpsed at the body behind Black. The person was squirming a bit. It didn't look like he could even crawl to safety.

Mr. Black turned and sprinted out of the alleyway. Shadow would have given him chase, but a shiny object caught his eye instead.

_'An emerald?'_

The dark one took the strange gem and business card in his hand. The gem looked like a red chaos emerald, it had a similar shape, but instead of the conical bottom of a diamond-cut chaos emerald, it was a reflection of the top half. More importantly, the gemstone lacked any apparent energy or power.

_'Just a common rock.' _

Shadow had half a mind to toss it aside, but instead had a better plan to get rid of it later.

The business card, claret colored corner no doubt from the blood of the body, read 'English Forum'.

"_Help_... me..." pleaded the wounded agent still writhing from the gunshot wounds.

The ebony hedgehog looked at him. He had half a mind to plant a bullet between his eyes and just continue pursuit of the assassin.

'_If only that killer would've finished you off,_' he thought to himself as he pulled out his radio.

"This is Shadow the Hedgehog. The assassin has evaded my pursuit, and the interception team is down. Requesting an ambulance; I have one wounded and four dead."

A voice crackled from the device,"This is Colonel Miller. Are you telling me that you LOST him?" it was an American voice.

"Not exactly. For some reason, he wants to meet me at some place called the 'Ole' English Forum'."

* * *

"How the hell does he know it was a set up?" asked the frustrated colonel.

"I don't know, sir-"

"Is that contractor still at the 'Forum?"

"I'm not sure, sir."

Miller stared at a computer screen in front of him. His mind was lost in thought for a moment.

"Mobilize the assault teams. This could work in our favor."

* * *

"Very well, Shadow. We're mobilizing two assault teams right now. We cannot take any more risks. Head back to base and move out with the assault teams. Do not move in without authorization! Is that understood?"

The hedgehog frowned. He didn't need 'backup' to take on some street thug.

"Yes, sir. Returning to base."

Something wasn't right. Why was there a dead woman, who clearly was not a G.U.N. agent, on the floor? That deformed face gave Shadow the creeps. Why did G.U.N. want this killer? More importantly, why did this killer want to meet with Shadow?


	5. Delirium

_

* * *

_

'Locked in a dome

_The shadows flicker by_

_He's the madcap pusher_

_Delirium the drug he's dealing_

_He drops a capsule in your drink_

_And spikes your dreams with madness...'_

_(Bauhaus)_

"That lady ruined my coat," said Black as he inspected himself in the bathroom mirror. His brown pants definitely did not match well with the coat or the thin Kevlar vest hugging his chest. The fact that the vampire lady, or whatever she was, tore the sleeve of his leather trench coat only made it worse. Then again, it didn't matter too much since he was shadowed in the darkness of the night. Oddly enough, that vicious bite wound she had inflicted was no where to be seen on his arm.

The digital clock by the bed read 3:39 AM. This evening had been rather eventful in his mind. At least, more interesting that his usual hits, and adding Shadow the Hedgehog into the mix made things that much more entertaining.

_'I wonder if he knows...' _Mr. Black thought to himself_,"And I wonder if it's time...'_

Speaking of time, he didn't have much of it. Soon, G.U.N. forces would be mobilizing and searching for him through the streets. Not to mention the fact that they would probably have his new target, the contractor who apparently betrayed and deceived him, barricaded beneath scores of soldiers and guard droids, and that would definitely prove to be an annoyance to Mr. Black... if he were alone in this.

No... Mr. Black was not alone. Someone had been watching out for him. Someone had found out for him that something was amiss about the contract. His intelligence clearly stated that the general was retired, but now that was... less than likely. G.U.N. wouldn't bother watching over an old man without reason. Also, the old bastard was obviously involved with the child slave trade... possibly just a consumer, but involved nonetheless.

Perhaps they were trying to kill two birds with one stone: catch the hit-man, kill the bastard officer. What irked Mr. Black just a bit was the fact that they were chasing him. Who exactly wanted him? Who exactly knew about him? Why did they want him? Why had they gone through the pain of such an elaborate trap for one hit-man?

Really, the who and why were not important at the moment... though the reason why he had been set up seemed self-explanatory.

Mr. Black was an assassin of the highest caliber; his entire career as a contract killer had dealt almost exclusively with terminating G.U.N. personnel. Black is a threat and a hindrance to their agenda; he is a plague to the United Federation and its military branch. Chances are that they want him dead simply because he has killed too many of their operatives over the years. There was always the chance that a deeper motive lay behind the night's events, but it did not matter at the moment.

What was important was getting to his target and meeting up with his companions.

_'ISS&BM'_

The Indomitable Super Soldier and Bloody Mary; both associates of Mr. Black. To hear how they were alerted to the situation, and mobilized so quickly, would almost certainly be an interesting story.

With one last look in the mirror, Black took a swig of water from the sink and spat. Taking off his coat, he stepped over to the closet and opened the sliding door; luggage on the floor. The killer lifted one of the heavier suitcases and tossed it on the bed along with a black duffel back.

Opening the larger luggage, he removed several black cases and opened them. The lead lined cases had proven effective in concealing the disassembled weapons inside; the MP5 sub-machine gun and the Sig 550 sniper rifle.

He removed the 'Sig components and quickly began assembling the somewhat bulky weapon. Once finished, he unzipped the duffel bag and took out a couple of ammunition clips. Black loaded one of the thirty round box magazines, .556 ammunition, and slapped it in the rifle before setting down on the bed.

Before moving onto the other disassembled weapon, he remembered to grab the AR-15 assault rifle that he had left here. Quickly, he stepped back over to the closet and reached for the black-matte assault rifle. Technically an assault rifle, anyways. This particular model was not able to go fully-automatic or even burst mode, though, really, it didn't matter whether you could fire a weapon at full auto if you couldn't hit your target. Mr. Black was a firm believer in the 'one shot, one kill' philosophy.

Black attached a shoulder strap to the weapon and inserted additional .556 rounds before popping the magazine back into place.

Next was the MP5. While assembling the weapon, Black decided against attaching the foldaway stock. After repeating the magazine process, the smaller weapon's magazine only held twenty five or so 9x19mm rounds, he set the weapon right next to the larger one. The MP5-'PDW', personal defense weapon, was compact enough to use as a convenient backup weapon when the heat turned up, Whereas taking the AR-15 may take too much time to do because of its size and the fact that he would have to drop the 'Sig 550 to use it effectively.

His larger weapons assembled and ready, Mr. Black drew the three weapons strapped to his gun belt; his Desert Eagle and twin '96 Berettas. With deft hands, he reloaded the 'Deagle and the recently discharged Beretta, uninstalled the silencer, and afterwards began holstering the weapons, twirling the last handgun before strapping it to his right side.

_'Damn. I left my M9.'_

Shrugging off the thought, Mr. Black took out a smaller case from the luggage; the silver M1911 showpiece. At this point, there was no need for silenced weapons. A simple, quick assembly with a seven round .45 ACP magazine slapped in, and he was golden; holstering the stylish Colt in a left-handed under arm carrier.

Finally, Black went to work on the duffel bag. Taking ammunition from two rectangular boxes from the larger luggage, he began filling and storing magazines in the bag and on his person.

On his person, with the help of added holsters and straps, he carried two 9mm MP5 magazines, two .40 Caliber Beretta clips, one .556 'Sig box magazine, one AR-15 magazine, and, finally, three seven round .50 AE Desert Eagle reloads. As a psychological precaution, Mr. Black decided to store seven single Desert Eagle rounds in his right pocket. In addition to the four handguns, sub-machine gun, and two rifles on his person, he also stored the little pill box of poison in his left pocket.

He was packin', alright.

Taking his duffel bag filled with extra ammunition and magazines, he held one last, brief glance at the clock before hurrying out the door and heading towards his destination.

* * *

3:46 AM

The bar was in a rather dull part of London. It was the kind of place where everything had the feeling of being gray and uninteresting. However, in a few moments, that was about to change.

Two individuals casually walked through the parking lot making their way to the entrance. They were not the typical pedestrians you would find wandering about in the middle of the night.

The first in front, Bloody Mary, wore a smokey gray uniform which concealed all of the body. This one looked like someone who would usually be affiliated with the SAS. This one was fully geared, too; Kevlar body armor and helmet, gas mask, sidearm holstered on the right hip. What separated this one from your typical military operative was the fact that the uniform had no visible patches of any sort, and the killer kept ten slender, sharp blades dangling on the back of the belt gently clanging against each other.

Behind the uniform killer was an even more imposing figure lugging several large duffel bags in his arms. He was at least a foot taller than the gas mask in front. The I.S.S. was nothing if not imposing. About six foot four, the figure's body was encased in a suit of dark gray material with obsidian black plates covering the vital regions of his body; chest, sides, thighs, shins, biceps, and forearms. His face was behind a matching dark gray, almost black mask with two eerie sapphire-blue eyes. The I.S.S.' neck and the back of his head were exposed, revealing a neatly trimmed light brown, almost red head of hair and fair skin.

These contract killers shared at least two thing with Mr. Black: their insatiable hatred for the G.U.N., and the origin of their powers.

The government has taken so much from Mr. Black and his crew that there could never be enough death to satisfy their thirst for revenge.

Mr. Black, Assassin Black, Bloody Mary, and the I.S.S. were all infused some years ago with various degrees of a special nanotech system labeled 'NanoBLACK'. The system was originally designed to save and sustain life through mechanical means, but the project was neglected, almost abandoned after its funding was cut drastically. Black and his crew, however, inspired the system's designer to continue the project in order to preserve their lives.

They can manipulate their nanites in various ways to aid them in combat in addition to healing wounds, sometimes typically fatal wounds, they would inevitably receive in combat.

Mr. Black, infused with a Grade Two NanoBLACK system, is capable of devouring people and various materials with his nanites. He can do this either by coming into contact with his enemies or by infusing a projectile weapon with nanites and landing a shot on the intended target. Almost nothing can survive the nanite 'infection'.

Assassin Black, infused with a Grade Four NanoBLACK system, specializes in making his masking himself from a multitude of sensors.

Bloody Mary, infused with a Grade Four NanoBLACK, is rather conservative when using the system. Typically, 'Blood' would only utilize the nanites by either healing wounded body parts or by attaching the ten sharp blades to the fingers. This makes for both a fearsome appearance and a deadly weapon; fear the unknown. How would you deal with someone whose fingers were knives and could easily slice into your flesh? How often does anybody run across someone trained to kill you with their nails?

The I.S.S. is infused with the heaviest grade NanoBLACK system, Grade Six, and it is apparent when you get a view of him. Grades indicate the size and amount of nanites one would have in their system at a given time. The reason for such a heavy system is because, unlike his allies, when he needed the treatment, there was a barely recognizable body to save. Because the I.S.S.' system was so heavy to begin with and his body so... lacking... he required cybernetic attachments and an almost complete exoskeleton protective suit to survive. On his grayish black suit rests the nanites in the form of black armor plates. At any given time, he can form armor plating to protect his exposed neck and head. He can also sprout tentacles made of nanites to manipulate objects around him.

All four assassins can do similar things with their nanites, but each one specializes and excels in certain areas.

The two killers paused in front of the bar door. Bloody Mary ran five fingers over the dangerous blades on the belt and drew the USP from its holster on the right hip. The I.S.S. waited outside as Blood pushed open the double doors and pointed the pistol at the nearest target. As you entered, the actual 'bar' started on the right side of the wall, right side of one walking into the bar, before curving off about a third of the way through the room. On the left side, nothing but booths. In the middle, a strange looking statue made of cobalt-blue steel. At the back of the bar was a door marked for employees only. The owner of the two story bar had a taste for modern art it seemed.

One shot, one kill. Before the men in the bar knew what was happening, Bloody Mary had already shot four of them dead, one of them the bartender. Two began charging towards the assassin only to come in contact with Blood's deadly blades. An outwards slice to the face for the first, a inward glided line across the second's neck, and they dropped dead.

Another farther in the bar had drawn a pistol, but, like the men charging Blood, he met his demise before he could fire.

_BANG_

Seven down, including the bartender, and there was only one person left: a bloated man, probably in his late sixties, and most likely intoxicated, sitting in one of the bar's booths; fourth closest to the entrance. Beads of sweat ran down his face even before the killers had arrived. His sweat stained the red collar on his turtleneck.

"Well, my god. You bastards really are the best at what you do, aren't you?" asked the man before sipping his beverage.

Bloody Mary pointed the pistol at his head and sat down on the opposite side of the booth. The I.S.S. finally decided to walk into the bar and set the heavy bags of 'goodies' on the bar counter.4:08 AM

"We're approaching our destination," crackled a voice over the radio,"Scouts and sharpshooters have already been deployed in the general area," Shadow sighed as he kept pace with the government vehicles,"We've lost contact with two of our sharpshooters around the bar, so I think it's safe to assume that he is holed up with a hostage or two. He probably knows we have him surrounded, so we might be able to talk him out of this."

_'Talk him out of this?'_ Shadow thought to himself,_'He killed five agents without saying so much as 'hello', and you think you can talk him out of this?'_

The convoy, consisting of multiple transport cars and two large military trucks, entered the vicinity of the Ole' English Forum' and split up to create a defensive perimeter around the area. Schematics showed that there were only two ways in and out of the two story building: through the front door, and through the back door.

Soldiers fanned out left and right, all training their weapons on the bar's two double doors and obscured glass window. Shadow simply stood in the middle of the deployed forces with his arms crossed.

_'I wonder how long this is going to take.'_

With about a thirty yard distance between the bar entrance and the military, they felt situated and secured. Vehicles served as cover for soldiers, and several G.U.N. guard mechs, deployed from the trucks, moved in front with heavy cannons aimed at the door.

The dark one turned back and walked over to the man in charge, Captain Florentino, wondering what his course of action would be.

The captain, with a megaphone to amplify his voice, began speaking.

"Unidentified assailant, come out with your hands up, or we'll have to enter the building by force!"

* * *

"Well, would you look at that, Mr. Bob? G.U.N.'s hot on my tail!" said Black sarcastically.

"I told you, my name is not-" Mr. Black grabbed the chubby man by his turtleneck, throttling him whilst bringing his face in for a headbutt.

"I don't care what your name is right now. You screwed me, and there's only one way you're getting out of this alive."

"I had no choice, Black, they caught me before-" the corpulent gangster was shoved into the booth and his jaw met Mr. Black's left fist.

"I told you I don't give a DAMN. You owe me over two-hundred Gees, and you're not living, let alone leaving, unless I get 'em right now."

"I don't have the money, Black! I didn't think you'd live past the-"

"You aren't paid to think," Black told him as he sat on a bar stool, Desert Eagle trained on his forehead,"you're paid to be the bastard scum you are. Now, give me my money."

"I told you-" the was cut off permanently this time by Mr. Black's pistol.

"Waste of time," he muttered to himself,"Well, looks like we're in a pickle... and out of this, we haven't gotten a nickle," Black chuckled to himself slightly.

Blood stood up from the booth and dragged the corpse, the corpulent corpse of the conniving contractor to the back room.

Black, taking a seat at the booth behind the fat man's, slid a round out of one pocket and the pill box out of the other. He took out the clip from his desert eagle and began to pop out the bullets and placing them one by one in a row. Then, he placed the replacement round in line with the rest. Finally, he took the 'Deagle and popped out the round in the chamber.

Seven rounds in all.

The three killers could hear whoever was in charge outside speaking through the megaphone again.

_'I told him no cops... well, I guess technically they're not cops... actually, they're soldiers...'_

He didn't really care to speak to anyone right now other than Shadow, but he didn't think that getting shot at right now was a good idea.

"Either of you got a megaphone?" he asked his companions.

Blank, eyeless stares were the only response.

"Well, I'm not going out there."

Mr. Black noticed that behind the bar was a stone wall, probably just for decoration.

"Yo, Jimmyboy, give me that brick behind you."

The I.S.S. complied. He stuck four fingers into the mortar between one of the bricks before inserting his thumb. His nanites did the trick quickly; he slid the brick out with ease and tossed it Black's way.

"Thanks," he said. Mr. Black ran his pinky over the smoothest surface of the brick and left black engraved lettering.

"Now, give it to the nice men outside," Black ordered, chucking the brick at the I.S.S. in the same manner he received it.

Letting out a muffled chuckle, the I.S.S. stood back an inch and raised the brick a little before hurdling it out the window with tremendous force.

* * *

Shadow heard the sound of glass breaking followed by a sound somewhat similar to punching a watermelon. He turned around to see one of the soldiers standing behind the car nearest to the bar's window had met his gruesome end by a brick slamming into his face.

He couldn't help but smirk.

_'I like this guy's style.'_

* * *

As expected, the military's response was to fire a few dozen shots into the window. Unfortunately for them, the only thing they managed to hit

Black chuckled,"You know, Jimmy... you always were a gentle giant."

I.S.S.' response was another chuckle, lighter than the last, muffled by his protective mask.

"Play bartender while you're over there and let me have... seven shot glasses of absinthe, and... how about a Bloody Mary for Bloody Mary?" he finished with a small snicker.

Black continued fawning over the seven bullets in front of him over and over again, muttering something under his breath to each of them.

* * *

Shadow walked over to the dead soldier and picked up the brick, making sure not to dirty his gloves with the bloodstained corner.

Inscribed on the brick were the words_: I'll come out if Shadow comes in_

"Alright, no more horseplay, we're breaching in five minutes!" announced Florentino.

The black hedgehog walked up to the officer.

"Sir," he started before showing Florentino the engraved side of the brick,"I think I should go talk to him."

"Hedgehog, what part of 'no more horseplay' didn't you understand? I'm not going to lose any more men than I have to," said the visibly annoyed captain.

"That's exactly why I should talk to him," explained the hedgehog with emphasis on the world 'talk'.

"I don't think he could throw a brick like that. He probably has a few lackeys with him," Shadow continued,"From where, I don't know, but he's definitely killed five agents and several sharpshooters by himself tonight. Right now, he's cornered. He can't run from me, but if you send your men, and there are more gunmen in there, they're walking into a death trap, and there's going to be a big stack of papers with your name on it when you get back to base."

Florentino considered Shadow's suggestion for a moment before nodding his head in approval.

"Alright, you win, hedgehog, but I'm sending someone in with you. The sooner this situation is resolved, the sooner I can go home and fuck my husband!" proclaimed the captain proudly.

_'Alright.'_

"Yes, sir," Shadow responded with a quick, informal salute before stepping towards the door.

* * *

Mr. Black finished his fourth shot glass. The supposedly hallucinogenic beverage tasted like black liquorish with a bit more tang.

As he finished and slammed the glass on the table, he took the bullet in front of the glass and popped it into the Desert Eagle's magazine. It was a ritual of sorts for Mr. Black.

"He's coming," announced Black.

Bloody Mary turned from the bar, leaving the red beverage on the counter untouched, waiting in anticipation for the half-pint hedgehog to walk through.

Within thirty seconds of doing so, the hedgehog came in through the left, Shadow's left, and a G.U.N. agent stepped through the right.

Neither had weapons drawn, but that did not stop Bloody Mary from making a move. Quickly, twirling across from the bar to the booth on the other side, Blood drew the ten blades and slashed the agent's throat exactly once with each hand before sitting at the edge of the booth in front of Mr. Black; the gas mask giving Blood the appearance of staring into oblivion.

He didn't know what hit him. Shadow hadn't realized what happened until after he heard the agent's sudden gurgling.

'_What-'_

"I'm so glad you could join me, Shadow, but I thought I said come alone?"

Acting calmly, Shadow retained his indifferent appearance and proceeded to sit down at the opposite side of the booth with Mr. Black.

By now, Black had downed the final three shots fairly quickly, but had not inserted the rounds into his pistol. He simply pushed the glasses to the side of the table and picked up the magazine and three bullets.

"Why did you want to see me?" asked Shadow

_Click_

There was a moment of silence. Black, through his opaque lenses, eyed the hedgehog with a strange fascination.

Shadow, quickly losing patience, asked once more,"Why did you want to see me?"

Mr. Black broke his gaze and responded,"I didn't. You wanted me, so here I am."

"So... you're just going to come along, just like that?" asked the now slightly perplexed hedgehog.

_Click_

Another round in the chamber.

"I asked, are you going to surrender?"

"No," Black chuckled,"What's the fun in that? What's the purpose in that?"

_'There's no time for games...'_

"Look, whoever you are, I don't have time for games. Either you come along peacefully, or I'll have to use force and scrape your remains off the floor."

_Click_

Mr. Black simply smiled at Shadow.

"You could try," he retorted in a very base tone. There were so many things he wanted to ask the dual-colored hedgehog, but there was so little time, and Shadow was most likely not one for conversation.

"This building is surrounded, there are gun agents stationed all throughout London. Do you really think you'll get out of this alive if you try to fight?" asked Shadow. The hedgehog moved his left hand underneath the table.

If the arab wasn't going to comply, then Shadow was authorized to take him out. A Chaos Spear to the stomach seemed like it would do the trick.

Black glanced over at the I.S.S. and gave him the slightest of hand gestures before taking the loaded magazine, slowly sliding it into the bottom of his Desert Eagle with a satisfying click before resting it on the table.

"I could try," he retorted in the same base tone.

_'That's it.'_

Picturing the words in his mind, Shadow closed his eyes for a second.

_'Chaos Spear'_

Nothing.

_'Chaos Spear'_

Still nothing.

_'What's wrong with me?'_ he thought to himself. Not being able to use his power could make this a potentially dangerous situation, but the dark one had to play it cool if he didn't want the arab to figure out that something was wrong. Shadow tried to ignite his shoes, but to no avail.

_'What-'_

"Ah, Shadow, won't you join me for a drink," Black asked in a tone that made it more of a statement than a question.

The I.S.S. had brought two pints of a golden, foaming beverage, lager mostlikely, and Mr. Black took the two large mugs from the tray. He ran his fingers over one of the mugs and passed the other one over to the black hedgehog.

'_Poison pills, boy. They're bad for you.'_

"Cheers?"

Mr. Black took a swig of the lager and set it down.

Shadow simply stared at the glass, and then back to Mr. Black.

_'This is insulting. How stupid does he think I am?'_

The hedgehog decided to drink, but to drink from Black's mug instead. Quickly, he reached across the table and drank a hearty portion of the assassin's pint before passing it back. Shadow didn't really enjoy alcohol of any sort, but right now he couldn't pass up the chance to be a smart ass.

Black only smiled.

"Germs, Shadow, germs... I don't like germs," he said, finishing off the small amount left in the mug, making sure not to come in contact with where Shadow's lips had touched.

"So, tell me, Shadow, how does it feel to be a G.U.N. lackey?"

Shadow raised an eyebrow

"What are you talking about?"

Black placed two little white tablets on the table top and played with them using his index and middle finger.

"What do you mean what am I talking about? I'm talking about you being a bitch-dog for the military. The same military that killed your girlfriend, mind you," he clarified in a calm and pompous tone.

If he could, Shadow would drive a chaos spear between his legs for that remark. For the moment, however, his mind was completely stunned, and his eyes were distracted by the little pills the killer was fiddling with.

What could he say to a comment like that, 'She wasn't my girlfriend, she was my only friend, the relationship was platonic, and she was killed by the government that I now work for, please don't say things like that because it hurts my feelings'? That probably would not make this situation go by any smoother.

"I would be thoroughly impressed if G.U.N. managed to break you, Shadow; make you their little puppet," stated Mr. Black in a mocking tone,"How does it feel to be used?"

The dark one let out a short, low growl.

"How does it feel to be set up and trapped like a rat?" Shadow snapped.

Black just kept smiling.

"Feels pretty good, actually," he began,"Because I'm not trapped in here. You're trapped out there. You're bound to G.U.N., and I can leave at any time."

Anger mixed with mild confusion as the hedgehog kept trying to get a spark, to send a bolt of righteous chaos energy through this killer's body. What was Mr. Black even talking about? Why was he talking down to Shadow? What did this Black even know about Shadow?

"What are you talking about? I am bound to no one," retorted the black hedgehog, slight trembling in his voice.

"Well, that's obviously not true," Black started as he placed the two tablets in his mouth and swallowed quickly,"Because if you weren't bound to someone, then you definitely would not be in service to the G.U.N.," he said, showing an almost exaggerated grin before continuing,"If you weren't bound by Maria's dying wish to 'give them', humans,'a chance', then you probably would not be affiliated with G.U.N. in order to keep the world safe and secure from... all sorts of things."

"How do you know that..." asked a trembling, almost fearful hedgehog.

This killer, who Shadow had never seen before in his life, had touched on the purpose of his entire existence. The hedgehog had never shared the full story about Maria's final wish with anyone. Perhaps with Rouge once, but he doubted she cared to tell anyone. Even so, this was probably not the kind of company that Rouge would associate with.

"You must have played no small part in organizing this elaborate trap," Black pointed a finger at the hedgehog,"I mean, risking one of your own officers to bait me?," He scoffed lightly,"Now, that's an underhanded move," he stated,"Clever, but underhanded," Black added with a toothy grin,"Shows you just how much they care about their staff, huh?"

"What?"

The dark one was becoming more confused by the minute.

On top of this killer's arcane guesswork, he had swallowed two tablets. The arab didn't look like a diabetic, so it was probably not medication.

If it was poison, then did that mean that the killer didn't plan on being taken alive at all? If that was true, then why did he want to speak to Shadow?

"What do you want from me?" demanded a now trembling ebony furred hedgehog.

Black took a moment to consider the question before offering an answer.

"Nothing, really. At the same time, everything," the killer's cryptic words didn't make sense to Shadow,"By the ways, did G.U.N. know that the good general was involved with child prostitution?"

Now, that was a curve ball. Shadow had an expression of absolute discombobulation.

'Child prostitution?' the dark one thought,'Does that mean that the... item... in that suitcase was a child?'

"I take that as a no, then."

"You... sold a child to the general before blowing him up?" Shadow asked,"Blowing up the child along with the general?" he added.

"Well, yes and no," Black replied,"Okay, yes, but it wasn't my child, and that's what counts, right?"

"You killed a child to get to an old man you could have sniped from a rooftop?"

"Shadow, you were on the rooftops, remember? I would have been trapped on top of the building," explained the killer,"And, alright, I don't have any children," Mr. Black laughed for a few moments before continuing,"You see, some of these people absolutely fascinate me. A man of such power, General Patterson, uses his power to acquire a little girl... to have 'inappropriate relations' with. I couldn't pass up the oppurtunity to have a little chat with him. I wanted to see how someone like that thought... what made him tick," he continued,"And you know what I learned? Perverts like Patterson think, live, breathe, eat, and sleep the same way everyone else does," Black sighed,"It makes you wonder, doesn't it?"

"You killed a little girl who had been suffering for who knows how long in that trunk just so you could have a beer with a child rapist?" Shadow's facial expression was a visible mixture of confusion and perturbation.

"Well, first off, it's not rape if they're willing," he smiled,"Second of all, if you were watching me the entire time, then why didn't you do something about it?"

Shadow's heart suddenly sank.

"Was there nothing suspicious about a little girl kicking and trying to get out of a suitcase before being shoved back in and sealed up, or did you not see anything out of the ordinary?"

The obsidian creature had seen something, but he didn't understand what it was at the time.

'_I had my orders,'_ he thought to himself, trying to justify his inaction.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, Shadow, I shot the bastard who was originally supposed to sell the girl to him. Killed a witness to the murder, too!"

_'Oh, great, a killer with a conscience.'_

The fact that, for some reason, Shadow's chaos energy was dead to him right here and right now also added to the fear and hysteria slowly creeping up on him. In fact, Shadow had been having headaches from the moment he stepped through the door.

Never before in his G.U.N. career had he felt this sort of fear, and to someone he didn't know either. It was not rational fear; this killer was just a creep that managed to shake him up a bit, catch him off guard.

He didn't like this one bit. After several minutes of trying to covertly kill the killer, Shadow had brought his left hand from under the desk and inhaled as he stared into the white gloved palm.

"What's the matter?" asked Black sarcastically,"Can't kill me with your sparkle powers?"

'_He knows?'_

"Who are you?" Shadow asked.

Mr. Black simply smiled. In Shadow's eyes, when Black smiled, a thin line of black liquid began making its way from the side of his mouth to his chin.

"You know, you've got something," Mr. Black indicated the same spot where Shadow saw the black liquid,"Right by your chin.

Shadow tilted his head slightly in confusion and reached for the mirror spot on his face. Looking at the tip of his index finger, it was the same black liquid that appeared to be on Mr. Black's face as well. The dark one rubbed the liquid slowly between his thumb and index finger.

It had the same consistency of blood, but it was black. Pitch black. The hedgehog had an uneasiness in his stomach at that moment as he directed his attention back to Mr. Black's face.

Instead of just one line, there were now several lines of liquid running out of Black's mouth. There was also streaks dripping down from behind his glasses. Eyes still not visible, it gave Mr. Black the appearance of a clown clown; an evil, partially painted, crying clown with an appetite for alcohol, poison and manslaughter.

"By the ways, Shadow, I didn't spike your drink," confessed Mr. Black as he took the hedgehog's pint in his hands. The once golden, frothy beverage was now pitch black as well.

Black's voice was warped in Shadow's mind; like a slow motion film where everyone's voice is low, slow and somewhat monstrous.

Now, instead of just from his eyes and mouth, the black lines were dripping from his hair line, too. Soon, the liquid formed in the shadows cast by the bar's low lighting and spread across the oak tabletops.

Soon, even the walls were bleeding black slime.

Soon, he began hearing things; screeches, voices, familiar voices.

Soon, even the light had become sinister, now casting a red shade on everything in his sight.

It only got worse from there. In just a few seconds, Mr. Black's bare arms had turned into tanned canvases for the black paint to sprout and cover, forming chaotic designs. Shadow's gloves appeared to be drenched in the fluid. The blood-like liquid flowing from his lips was indeed real, and it tasted like synthetic death; a mixture of fear, vinegar and nail polish remover.

Shadow began coughing heavily; globs of black tar washed up on the table, and the goo began to squirm and spread out like a jelly fish in water. The hedgehog felt an icy cold, prickly sensation spiking all over his body. He had to get out of here. Whoever this man, this killer was, he obviously had no intention of giving himself up, and he had the upper hand on Shadow.

"You asked me who I was," said Black as he stood up, holstering his desert eagle,"My name is Mr. Black," he took the suffering hedgehog by the ear and stepped over the dead body on the floor, dragging Shadow towards the door like a child,"When you're running outside into the comforting arms of your handlers, tell them that Mr. Black is coming out to play."

Mr. Black showed the dark hedgehog the door and shut it shortly after. After shoving the suffering hedgehog out the door, he turned around to face Bloody Mary. Any facial expression the assassin may have had was hidden behind the gas mask and its dark, opaque goggles.

"Don't give me that look," he said to Blood, pointing a finger,"It isn't going to kill him," he smiled,"Now, come on. there's so many to kill and so little time,"he spoke to his allies," The sun's coming up soon, and I believe that we have worn out our welcome..."

That was I.S.S.' signal to open his bags. From the large bags on the bar counter, the tall assassin took out an M4A1 carbine, two unloaded RPG-7's, and two hacked down Benelli semi-automatic shotguns and placed them next to the bags in an organized manner.

"That'll do it, Jim. That'll do it."

The M4A1 was fully decked out with an attached M203 grenade launcher and a heavy one hundred round magazine loaded in. The I.S.S. did not take as much joy in loading his 'cannons' the way Black did. They were always loaded unless it would be too dangerous to keep them loaded, like the RPG's.

The I.S.S.' obsidian nanite armor plates began shifting to form two quick draw holsters for the shotguns. Putting the M4 to his stomach, the armor also shifted to grab hold of the heavy rifle while the I.S.S. loaded his RPG's. Taking one in each hand and resting them on his shoulders, as well as 'sticking' two spare rockets to his side, he began to make his way towards the door. His nanites also started to form protective coating around his neck and a combat helmet to cover his exposed top. This was the Indomitable Super Soldier.

As he made his way for the door, Black grabbed his two rifles and sub-machine gun, and Blood had taken a FAMAS G2 assault rifle out of the bags I.S.S. had brought in.

The plan was simple: for a 'bang out', or evacuation, they used a 'tried and true' tactic. Blood and Black would target any marksmen on the rooftops and take them out. The I.S.S. would annihilate everything else. After all targets are eliminated, the trio would proceed to walk away from the scene fashionably slow and in style.

* * *

4:59 AM

"Oh, that can't be good," commented one of the riflemen standing a soldier droid as Shadow the Hedgehog ran clumsily away from the bar and into the streets,"Looks like we gotta do this the American way!" he spoke into his radio.

"Alright, men, be ready," Florentino spoke through the radio,"They have assaulted a G.U.N. agent, and there are no signs of his partner. Lethal force is authorized," the captain commanded.

"Shoot to kill," commented another trooper.

The double doors of the bar opened wide, and out stepped the I.S.S. with two RPG's, one in each arm. A truly frightening figure, he basically looked like a monstrous, muscular version of a G.U.N. grunt without any exposed flesh; a machine bred to maim and kill. The I.S.S. aimed his rockets.

"Fire!" commanded Florentino, and his men, as well as robots, opened fire on the super soldier.

This did not prevent the I.S.S. from firing his first two rockets which landed solemnly on their targets; two cannon-armed soldier droids.

As his nanites locking him into the ground and the spawned obsidian plating absorbing a large portion of the kinetic energy, small arms fire did next to nothing as the bullets either bounced off his life support suit or were assimilated by his nanite plating, creating more nanites. Cannons, however, may distract him by pushing him off balance a bit, and therefore disrupting his aim.

With finesse only an expert gunman and mercenary could have, the I.S.S. quickly placed both discharged RPG's on his left shoulder and drew the semi-automatic shotgun from his left side in his right hand.

The shotgun phased from a cobalt blue tint to a shining black glow for a moment before the I.S.S. fired on the remaining three G.U.N. mechs. All the while, two tentacles projected from his side and grasped the spare rockets attached to the I.S.S. in order to reload the RPG's.

All three droids were pegged square in the chest and head by the slug-loaded shotgun. Black blotches formed immediately after and began to dissolve into their armor and circuitry.

Their mechs disabled and I.S.S.' rockets reloaded, he holstered the shotgun like a pistol and fired on the two G.U.N. trucks, taking out multiple soldiers with each explosion.

Ditching the launchers, he drew his final and favorite weapon, the heavily outfitted M4A1, and began spraying lead at the remaining soldiers.

As the I.S.S. distracted the G.U.N. soldiers, Mr. Black had picked off four sniper teams on the surrounding rooftops before jolting outside to join the fray. Bloody Mary joined him soon after, and the trio advanced towards the blockade of G.U.N. cars and now destroyed droids and corpses.

G.U.N. was outmatched and now retreating, but their captain could not escape a stray .556 M4 round to the knee cap.

The gunfire soon halted, and Black stepped over to the struggling Florentino. Resting the Sig 550 on his shoulder, black drew one of his pistols and smiled before pulling the trigger.

Captain Florentino didn't have a chance to get a look at his killer before the bullet entered through the back of his head with a small yet satisfying splatter.

"Well," Black spoke,"I guess he wont be seeing his wife tonight!"

Mr. Black's cellphone had vibrated again. Taking it out of his right pocket, he checked the time before reading the text message.

5:04 AM

The text gave coordinates to a nearby warehouse, and the message was signed by Assassin Black.

The trio fled the scene shortly after.


	6. Hallucination

_Allow your fearful fervor to raise, child!_

"What is this?" Shadow asked himself after heaving a small pool of blackness at his feet, leaving an unpleasant, motor oil taste in his mouth. The dark one's panic had awakened as he had absolutely no idea what was going on, only that the entire world was going to hell in an instant.

As he looked up, the hedgehog couldn't help but notice that England's muggy, gray and partially illuminated nighttime sky began to inch closer and closer to the hedgehog's face. He could do nothing but run, and as Shadow ran far from the bar and down the street, everything went black; all the soldiers, all the lights, all the cracks and crevices in the city bled the same black liquid that flowed from his mouth.

These hallucinations were mild at first, but they quickly became much more horrific as the hedgehog picked up speed. The shadows he cast on the nearby walls turned into splatters of black twitching sporadically; the shadows simply stared at Shadow.

_Stare not into the eyes of madness lest you become mad yourself._

Even the windows had become sinister, for when he peered into them, into the eyes of each building, nightmarish silhouettes could be seen motioning either towards the hedgehog or towards some possible innocent being unseen behind the buildings' walls.

But all the unpleasant sights surrounding the panicking hedgehog would have been less terrifying if only there were no sound. At first there was only the sound of his own footsteps; however as the hallucinations began to take hold, the clacking of his skates like wooden clogs on the paved road had silenced. For a moment there was only silence, silence and mild hallucinations, but then the subtle voices came and soon the maniacal cackling of the specters in, on and behind the walls followed.

It was almost as if something were chasing him; the paranoia had settled in as it mingled with Shadow's panic and fear.

Shadow ran down the street, and though he kept his eyes on the road ahead and looked away from the windows, the hallucinations would not cease. Shadow came to a narrow crossroad in the city intended for Pedestrians, and what he saw was almost unexplainable; the shadows cast by Shadow's shadow due to the lampposts' luminescence detached themselves from the walls and slowly, in a sinister way began moving toward the drugged and dreary dark one, brandishing unseen objects formed from the absence of light.

_Let it all run black, dear child, for the sun has set and the night has risen._

The threat was all too real for the drugged hedgehog, his heart had begun to pound faster and faster as he didn't know what to do; surrounded by monsters, bleeding black fluid from his insides, the panic faded and the fear set in.

_**You must relax.**_

Shadow couldn't relax, his adrenal glands began pumping faster and faster, causing his body's organs to speed up so dramatically that all he could do was freeze and bask in the sudden and overwhelming fear of the weird.

_**It is the drug's effect. Pay these apparitions no heed, Shadow.**_

The black specters had come within arm's length of the short hedgehog, and as they all stared at him, all facial features absent and eyes nonexistent as they held and locked with each other's hands, one struck out. At first, the wound was but a scratch, but within three seconds, a thin black line had blossomed into a deep gash; the pain was unbearable.

Shadow clutched his stomach, screaming out of pain and surprise. The voice had said pay the apparitions no heed; yet they had wounded him.

"God, why!" writhed the hurt hedgehog.

_**It is not real.**_

_**  
**_Another of the apparitions struck at him, this time slashing his eyes. The blow was with such force and surprise that it had knocked Shadow on his back, him now clutching both his face and stomach while trying desperately to curl up into a ball.

The specters would not relent, each began slashing and spouting out their own tones of sinister gibberish; some cast curses, others mocked the helpless hedgehog. The pain, fear, panic, and paranoia were all mixed together in a cauldron of black fluid, Shadow's mind, and he began to shake violently, his body knew not what to do.

Relax, Shadow, you must relax. Though they may strike you, and though the apparitions may appear violent, you must remain calm.

Shadow stuttered as he attempted to communicate with the voice in his head. "C-c-c I-I C-"

You must. The four phases of Delirium begin as panic and mild hallucinations, with a physical symptom of various black fluids flowing from all orifices. Soon, if you do not control the panic, your glands flood your body with excessive amounts of adrenalin, as well as force you to lose control of your emotions, particularly fear. This is followed by massive shocks to the nervous system and illusions of pain, and if by then you do not control your own agony, which none of Mr. Black's victims ever have, the drug will take your most intimate memories and torture you with them until either you suffer a stroke or lose your sanity, often both.

Although the strange, familiar voice tried to explain what was happening to Shadow, the dark one found it just a little difficult to understand with the specters mercilessly battering him.

_**Concentrate your thoughts on a single, vague idea; a drop of water, the flow of a river, the sound of a gentle song. Shut out the fervent agony and apparitions, or else you will die. **_

_**  
**_"Concentrate," muttered Shadow, the specters still tormenting his body_**.**_

_**Concentrate…**_

_**Concentrate…**_


End file.
